Molina, Goldschmidt lead Cards past Dodgers again

[April 10, 2019]  Paul Goldschmidt hit a home run and Yadier Molina added a pair of run-scoring doubles as the St. Louis Cardinals moved over .500 for the first time this season with a 4-0 victory Tuesday over the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers.

Cardinals starter Dakota Hudson only lasted 4 2/3 innings after throwing 100 pitches, but the bullpen took it from there as John Brebbia, John Gant, Mike Mayers, Andrew Miller and Dominic Leone finished off the shutout.

Enrique Hernandez and Cody Bellinger had two hits each for the Dodgers, who were held without a home run for the second consecutive game after going deep in their first 10 games this season and 14 consecutive going back to last season. The Dodgers lost consecutive games for the first time.

The Cardinals had reached the .500 mark three separate times in the early part of the season and finally pushed past it Tuesday to improve to 6-5.

The Cardinals put together a two-out rally in the first inning against Dodgers starter Ross Stripling to take a 1-0 lead. Paul DeJong doubled, Marcell Ozuna walked and Molina hit a ground-rule double for a run.

Molina delivered with two outs again in the third inning, this time with a two-run double for a 3-0 lead. Goldschmidt made it 4-0 in the fifth inning with his sixth home run. It was just his eighth hit this season.

Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (4) hits a one run double off of Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Ross Stripling (not pictured) during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Goldschmidt now has 32 home runs against the Dodgers, his most against any single team. He also has 99 career RBIs against Los Angeles.

Stripling (0-1) gave up four runs on five hits over five innings with three walks and seven strikeouts. Hudson gave up six hits with four walks and four strikeouts in his scoreless outing. Brebbia (1-0) recorded three of his four outs by strikeout.

The Dodgers had their chances early against Hudson, loading the bases twice against the right-hander but failing to score each time. When Hudson walked Max Muncy to load the bases in the fifth inning, Brebbia was called on and struck out Hernandez to end the threat.

The Dodgers left a season-high 13 runners on base.

--Field Level Media

[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.